March 2017

In China, most women tend to have career before married, but after they married, the wife usually works on the household only. Right now is different, women have career and financial income independently. Men in China still have career, but the situation is different, in a sense that role of both men and women changes. Women is somehow more powerful than men career wise. Compared to women, men still have more number career-wise. It is still illegal when we talk about marriage equality, and it is still odd or taboo to perform such way. In the past, women should remarry when they are divorced or being a single mother. Right now, it is acceptable to be a single mother, as long as they can provide financial support to their children

( Serene ) Malaysia:

In Malaysia’s culture, they do not have limitation on roles in terms of having a career. Both men and women can pursue their career as an individual. Knowing that Malaysia is a Moeslim country, marriage equality is still banned and illegal to perform, according to their laws and policies that are based on Islamic culture. Also, the society itself cannot accept this condition, so it is still very different compared to Solnit’s essay “More Equal Than Others.”

( Ilias ) Indonesia:

In Indonesia, traditionally, men are responsible in financial aspect to support their family, and women tend to do the household work. As time goes by, both men and women have the same right to pursue their career nowadays. There are a lot of women, supporting their family by doing full-time or part-time job. In terms of marriage equality, since Indonesia is dominated by the influence of Islam, it is still taboo and unacceptable to perform an official same-sex marriage. However, nowadays, there are a lot of people expressing themselves as gay or lesbian, and it is acceptable in the society. What is illegal is only the official marriage equality, not into details of forbidding individuals to express their sexual preferences in public.

The Barong play represents a fight between good spirit and evil spirit. Barong is a mythological animal that represent a good spirit and Rangda is a mythological monster that represent an evil. The Barong Dance is probably the most well-known dance in Bali, Indonesia. Barong dance is performed when there is illness or misfortune in the village and there is therefore intended to dispel this “evil forces”.

2. Wayang Kulit ( shadow puppet show )

Wayang kulit is a traditional puppet shadow play found in the culture of Java, Bali, and Lombok, Indonesia. Wayang kulit is among the best known, offering a unique combination of ritual, lesson and entertainment on our daily life as a human being.

Xizhe Sun

Chinese Spring festival

1. Cleaning and Purchasing
Chinese always clean every corner of the house, it is a tradition. After cleaning, people always buy some new clothes. This behavior means people are getting ready for a new start.

2. Pasting the “Fu”
The character “Fu”, meaning good fortune or happiness, is used to express people’s good wishes and yearning for the future, so people usually paste it gates or some furniture in the house during the Chinese New Year.
3. Red Envelope
Red Envelope, is prepared for children by adults and the elderly and given after the reunion dinner. In folk culture, the children will live safe and sound for the whole year if they get lucky money.

Rishab Khanna

Food culture of india

The traditional food of India has been widely appreciated for its fabulous use of herbs and spices. Indian cuisine is known for its large assortment of dishes. The cooking style varies from region to region and is largely divided into South Indian & North Indian cuisine.

Bangali food- Bengali cuisine is appreciated for its fabulous use of panchphoron, a term used to refer to the five essential spices, namely mustard, fenugreek seed, cumin seed, aniseed, and black cumin seed.

Gujarati Food
The traditional Gujarati food is primarily vegetarian and has a high nutritional value. The typical Gujarati thali consists of varied kinds of lip smacking dishes.
Mughlai Cuisine
Mughlai cuisine is one of the most popular cuisines, whose origin can be traced back to the times of Mughal Empire.
Punjabi Food: The cuisine of Punjab has an enormous variety of mouth-watering vegetarian as well as non vegetarian dishes.
South Indian Cuisine
The traditional food of South India is mainly rice based. The cuisine is famous for its wonderful mixing of rice and lentils to prepare yummy lip smacking dosas, vadas, idlis and uttapams.

From her response, the main idea that she is trying to convey is how the essence of culture always strive to a positive purpose in life. She mentioned that in Chinese culture, it is a common phenomenon where the grandparents take responsibility for their grandchildren, and the parents are responsible for making money and fulfill their children’s live expenses. She also mentioned the contrast between new and old generation in terms of ways of thinking. She believes that as a new generation, we should set aside our selfish thought on life and we should always learn the moral values that our elders taught us, which are kindness and hardworking attitude to become a better person in our life. Personally, I think it is a really good way of thinking, knowing that every culture has their own essential values. In this modern age, those aspects can also be a reminder for us that we should never forget where we came from, because family and cultural aspects shaped us as a character, but most importantly, those aspects always lead us to a better purpose in life.

Music is one of the sources to express voices and ideas to the world. These two albums represent “Black Power” to the world, especially in the history of the United States of America.The first picture is an album cover of “To Pimp A Butterfly” by Kendrick Lamar (2015) and the second picture is an album cover of “What’s Going On” by Marvin Gaye (1971). “To Pimp A Butterfly” is an album surrounded with the elements of jazz, funk, soul, hip hop, and poetries,which explores various political and personal themes concerning African-American culture, racial inequality, depression, and institutional discrimination. “What’s Going On” is an album which meditated on what had happened to the American dream of the past, as it related to urban decay, environmental woes, military turbulence, police brutality, unemployment, and poverty.

Comparison between New York City and San Francisco :

Weather: New York City’s weather is more extreme than San Francisco. In the summer, it can be very hot and in winter, it can be very cold and freezing, while San Francisco has a perfect constant weather.

Pace: New York City’s pace is fast and mostly it is all about work, work, and work. On the other hand, San Francisco’s pace is more laid-back and balanced between work and free times.

Property: The properties in New York City are more affordable and cheaper compared to San Francisco’s high price tag, as it is one of the most expensive cities in the world.

People: New Yorkers are more selfish and rude and express it verbally at the same time, while people in San Francisco is calmer but still judging you from inside sometimes. Overall, maybe because of New York City’s fast pace, the people are more “self-serving” and workaholic compared to San Francisco’s easygoing pace that reflects on their “Peace, Love, and Music” environment

From Maggie Xu’s response, the stereotypes that occur to Asian people, specifically Chinese, are mostly different from reality. Chinese people are considered as smart for certain subjects, such as mathematics and science, but the truth lies within the effort and hard work, not the actual stereotype judgment towards Chinese people. They are also considered as rude an unfriendly, they are quiet to strangers and speak loud whenever you go to a Chinese market, but they are all just stereotypes that are based on subjective views, not the other way around. Equality should be applied to diversity in society as a way of appreciating and respecting others, rather than putting certain judgements in the interaction with other people that only limits them to be themselves in society.